CHSAANow

Month: October 2016

  • Photos: Legend football shuts out Boulder

    PARKER — Legend football improved to 4-1 with a 41-0 win over Boulder on Saturday.

    [divider]

  • Photos: Aurora Central football now 5-0 after beating Hinkley

    AURORA — Aurora Central football moved to 5-0 with a 41-6 win over Hinkley on Saturday.

    [divider]

  • Video: La Junta stuns The Classical Academy with a Hail Mary win

    La Junta, the No. 1 team in 2A football, came from behind to beat No. 2 The Classical Academy 26-21 on a Hail Mary as time expired.

    The Tigers uploaded video of that game to their Hudl account over the weekend, meaning we can watch a highlight of that play. It starts around 1:40 on this clip:

  • Photos: No. 6 Vail Mountain boys soccer beats No. 7 Colorado Academy

    DENVER — Sixth-ranked Vail Mountain boys soccer beat No. 7 Colorado Academy 2-0 in a big Class 3A game on Saturday.

    [divider]

  • Photos: Dines leads No. 5 D’Evelyn football over Arvada

    ARVADA — Chad Dines had quite the varsity debut, throwing for 407 yards and six touchdowns as No. 5 D’Evelyn beat Arvada 45-0 on Saturday.

    Dines, a junior, connected on 23 of his 29 passes, and also rushed for 49 yards and a score. Two receivers, Cody Bell and Justin Kehoe, each had two receiving touchdowns for the Jaguars.

    Kyle Klataske had 158 yards on the ground for D’Evelyn.

    D’Evelyn is now 4-1 this season, while Arvada fell to 2-3.

    [divider]

  • Photos: Lakewood’s Think Pink gymnastics invite

    LAKEWOOD — Lakewood held its Think Pink gymnastics invite on Saturday.

    [divider]

  • No. 2 Fort Morgan football grinds out tough win over No. 9 Mead to remain unbeaten

    Fort Morgan football team
    (Morgan Dzak/CHSAANow.com)

    LONGMONT — Fort Morgan was up by six points with less than three minutes left in regulation when running back Tate Kembel fumbled the football and Mead’s Trace Lindemann recovered it. The unbeaten Mustangs had a tough time with the Mavericks defense all night, but this was a critical play at a dangerous time.

    But Fort Morgan junior stud Trey McBride wasn’t having it, and made a huge stop on defense, forcing Mead to give the ball up after fourth down.

    There were three lead changes and plenty of physical and clutch plays in the monster top-10 Class 3A matchup between No. 2-ranked Fort Morgan and No. 9 Mead. But the Mustangs held strong and came out on top 20-14 Friday night and remain undefeated at 5-0.

    “Hats off to Mead,” Fort Morgan football head coach Harrison Chisum said. “Coach Klatt and his staff do an outstanding job with their program and it’s a very well coached program. We had to dig deep and we came out on top and made big plays when we needed to. That was a very good football team that we beat, with tough, physical defense.”

    Mead started out the game with a fumble on the first possession, and Fort Morgan recovered on the Mavericks’ 39-yard-line, but didn’t capitalize on anything. But the Mavericks’ offense shined on the second possession, after Mead ran it 44-yards and then senior quarterback Riley Glynn fired off a 43-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Derek Edwards.

    Ultimately, Mead defense held the Mustangs’ offense back a lot of the game, and shut down two of Fort Morgan’s three 2-point conversion attempts. On the final attempt after a go-ahead TD off a Daylin Knapp QB keeper, McBride caught the 2-pt conversion reception in the end zone.

    “Coming into this week, we knew Mead just beat a really tough team in Longmont,” McBride said. “Rankings don’t mean anything. We practiced hard all week running and being physical.”

    The Mustangs also had a second quarter 30-yard Austin Breidenbach TD run. After an illegal chop block was called during a 2-point conversion attempt, Fort Morgan failed on the next attempted 18-yard 2-point conversion, but were only down 7-6 at the half.

    Aside from Mead’s aggressive defense, junior running back Nathan Mackey gave the Mustangs’ defense a rough time all night, dodging defender after defender and making guys miss tackles all night. He was impossible to bring down.

    “We’ve never seen a running back like that who’s so shifty and able to cut off,” McBride said. “He made us miss a lot of tackles and made us look foolish a lot of times, and that was our toughest thing coming in.”

    Mackey had a vicious 41-yard run to the end zone, powering through Mustang defenders grabbing at his heels. But a Mead holding penalty prevented the TD from counting.

    “Nathan started five or six games last year as a sophomore, and now he’s carrying our workload on offense,” Mead head coach Jason Klatt said. “We lean on him.”

    Fort Morgan’s senior running back Kembel was also a very tough player to stop, and ran wild against Mead’s defense all night. He gave Fort Morgan its first lead of the game on a third quarter 4-yard TD run, and dropped the 2-point conversion pass in the end zone for the Mustangs’ second failed attempt.

    McBride, younger brother of All-State player Toby McBride, who is playing at Colorado State University, was solid on both sides of the ball and made huge plays for the Mustangs.

    “Tate runs the ball extremely hard and he’s not very big, but he holds his own,” Chisum said. “Trey is a very gifted football player as well, but tonight started with our offensive line, and Knapp also managed the game very well.”

    Junior wide receiver Ryan Lavanchy caught a 34-yard TD pass for the Mavericks in the fourth quarter that put them up 14-12, but Fort Morgan came storming back for the last Knapp TD and McBride 2-pt conversion reception to seal the game.

    “Our defense has gotten so much better, and we needed to stand up toe-to-toe with this team, and we did that,” Klatt said. “But our defense played lights out tonight and it’s going to serve us well down the road.”

    He added: “Our conference is not shaken with this. We gave Fort Morgan everything they wanted, and that’s one of the top teams in 3A. This is a building block to get even better.”

  • Arvada West football resurgence continues with win over Standley Lake

    Arvada West's Isaiah Ocana (20) and Chase Dixon (11) celebrate a Wildcat touchdown Friday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
    Arvada West’s Isaiah Ocana (20) and Chase Dixon (11) celebrate a Wildcat touchdown Friday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    ARVADA — Arvada West sophomore quarterback Johnny Krutsch might very well be a symbol of what the present and future holds for the Wildcats’ football program.

    A-West (4-1 record) ran its current winning streak to four games with a 41-14 victory over Class 4A’s Standley Lake on Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. Krutsch led the way with an impressive first half as the Wildcats jumped out to a 27-0 lead at halftime. Krutsch was 18-for-23 passing for 257 yards and three touchdowns after two quarters.

    “He is a unique individual. To be 15 years old and be doing what he is doing in a varsity game. It’s pretty special to have a kid like that who has been thrown into the fire as a freshman,” A-West coach Brad Pyatt said of Krutsch who started his freshman year. “He has gotten better and better. He has done an amazing job and I’m really excited about the future with him.”

    Krutsch completed his fourth touchdown pass — 42-yard connection to senior Trevor Lepke — midway through the third quarter to go over the 300-yard mark against Standley Lake. He finished 23-for-30 passing for 334 yards and four touchdowns.

    “With the defense Standley Lake runs we felt like we could pass on them,” Krutsch said. “We wanted to spread it out a lot, get it to everyone and get a lot of yards tonight.”

    A-West sophomore Isaiah Ocana was the Wildcats’ leading receiver with 10 catches for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Senior Chase Dixon added five catches for 99 yards.

    Arvada West junior Jack Boyer (98) puts pressure on Standley Lake quarterback Jake Foutz (15). (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
    Arvada West junior Jack Boyer (98) puts pressure on Standley Lake quarterback Jake Foutz (15). (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Senior Joey Perez was the workhorse on the ground with nearly 20 carries and had A-West’s final touchdown on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Tony Cass had a 25-yard touchdown run on A-West’s opening drive as the Wildcats jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.

    “I’m just proud for the boys. They are getting some success. I’ve told them from Day 1 that we are going to grind it out,” Pyatt said. “I’m proud of these seniors. They have stuck it out for two years and now their hard work is paying off this third season.”

    A-West has already reached the win total — four — it had over the past two seasons combined.

    “This is a start of a new A-West,” Krutsch said. “I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

    The Wildcats are still very young, but the non-league wins early this year should benefit A-West as it heading into conference play next week.

    “I’m excited to see what we can do in league,” said A-West senior James Gould, who had a trio of sacks on Standley Lake quarterback Jake Foutz. “These wins have built up our confidence.”

    The Wildcats host Rangeview at noon Oct. 8 at NAAC in the 5A Mt. Wilson League opener. A-West then faces area-rival Ralston Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at NAAC. A-West and Ralston Valley are actually the only two 5A Jeffco schools in the same league as the start of the new waterfall league system begins.

    The Gators (3-2) had their three-game winning steak come to an end. Standley Lake did manage a pair of touchdowns in the second half against A-West. Foutz had an 8-yard touchdown pass to senior Beck Halbiesen and senior Landon Warriner broke off an 82-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

    Standley Lake kicks off its league play at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at NAAC against Thornton. The 4A Mountain League opener is also the Gators’ homecoming game.

    Arvada West sophomore Tony Cass (2) breaks out of a tackle attempt by Standley Lake's Zach Johnstone (62) during the Wildcats' 41-14 victory. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
    Arvada West sophomore Tony Cass (2) breaks out of a tackle attempt by Standley Lake’s Zach Johnstone (62) during the Wildcats’ 41-14 victory. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • Football roundup: La Junta beats The Classical Academy on a Hail Mary

    (Bud Ozzello/CHSAANow.com)
    (Bud Ozzello/CHSAANow.com)

    It was a top-2 game, and it was a wild one.

    La Junta, newly-minted as the No. 1 team in Class 2A, beat No. 2 The Classical Academy 26-21 on a Hail Mary to end the game.

    La Junta grabbed a 6-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first quarter, and things that way until midway through the third quarter.

    TCA went up 7-6 with 6:36 remaining in the third, and expanded the lead to 14-6 early in the fourth quarter after recovering a bad snap on a punt.

    That’s when things got wild.

    La Junta made it 14-12 in with six minutes to play, but had a two-point conversion called back because of a penalty. The Tigers took an 18-14 lead with 1:20 play, and that lead turned out to be brief. That’s because TCA drove down the field to go up 21-18 with 37 seconds to play.

    All of this, of course, just served to set the stage for La Junta’s game-winning Hail Mary.

    This was the Tigers’ second huge win in a week. La Junta beat then-No. 1 Kent Denver last week in another top-2 showdown.

    [divider]

    3A: (10) Longmont 46, (7) Holy Family 35

    Longmont scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to put this back-and-forth game away.

    The team teams were tied at 8 after the opening frame, and Longmont held just a 23-21 lead at halftime. After a Trojans’ field goal, Holy Family went up on a passing score from Stone Samaras to Kyle Helbig.

    The Tigers pushed it to 35-26 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but that’s when Longmont turned it on and scored the game’s final 20 points.

    “We knew that if it came down to the fourth quarter, we were going to do the right things this time that we needed to do to get the win,” Longmont linebacker Austin Hassler told BoCoPreps.com after the win.

    [divider]

    3A: Skyview 11, Lincoln 5 (OT)

    This was a weird one.

    Skyview grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a first-half safety. Lincoln then went up 3-2 on a field goal with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter.

    The Lancers expanded that lead to 5-2 with a safety of their own with 1:57 remaining in the third, only to see Skyview tie it on this field goal with 44 seconds left:

    The game went to overtime, where Skyview won the game with this touchdown:

    [divider]

    3A: Skyline 28, Niwot 0

    Skyline is now 5-0, and off to its best start in more than a decade after a 28-0 win over Niwot.

    The Falcons were already receiving votes in this week’s 4A rankings, and could slide into the poll on Monday.

    It’s quite the turnaround for the program: Skyline has won five games in a season just once since 2014.

    “We’ve got great kids, and they’re coachable, and they buy into the mentality and the scheme and the system, and once you get buy-in, good things happen,” Skyline coach Michael Silva told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “That’s what they’ve done and they’ve showed that they have the mentality, regardless of the situation, that they’re going to find a way to win. That’s tough to do, because of our history.

    “These guys have managed to find a way, and trust in me and my staff, and it’s been a fun ride so far. And we don’t want it to stop.”

    [divider]

    Notables

    • Sand Creek broke a 20-game losing streak with a 14-8 win over Air Academy. That had been the longest drought in the state. It was the Scorpions’ first win since Sept. 19, 2014, which also came over Air Academy. That was a wild 68-62 win which set all kinds of records.
    • On the other side of the coin, 2A No. 8 Weld Central has now won 10 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the state. The Rebels, now 5-0 this season, beat Valley 28-21.
    • An update on the all-time wins list: Kent Denver beat Elizabeth 39-20 in an afternoon game. That gave coach Scott Yates his 308th career win. West Grand and coach Chris Brown beat Hayden 53-18. That’s Brown’s 310th career win.
    • Berthoud connected on a Hail Mary at halftime of its game with Thompson Valley. But TV won, 28-13, to notch its first win this season (1-4).
    • There was also a first-half Hail Mary in Rangeview/Gateway. Rangeview’s Jaelin Odegard hit Josh Hollins from near midfield (video here). Rangeview went on to win 52-7.
    • Pueblo East beat Pueblo South in the Cannon Game, 21-14. Check out this cool timelapse from the Pueblo Chieftain’s Nick Jurney.
    • Dayspring Christian had another wild game. This time, 8-man’s No. 2 team beat No. 8 Haxtun 55-53.
    • A big game in 8-man: No. 3 Sedgwick County took care of No. 4 Akron 46-8.
    • In 6-man, No. 3 Stratton/Liberty beat No. 5 Arickaree/Woodlin 54-28.
    • Another top-10 6-man game: No. 8 Cotopaxi upset No. 6 La Veta.
    • Eaglecrest is now 5-0 after a 42-20 win over Bear Creek. The Raptors, No. 4 in 5A, are off to their best start in more than a decade.
    • Fairview, ranked No. 7 in 5A, is also 5-0 after beating Arapahoe 48-7.
    • In 1A, No. 2 Paonia beat No. 7 Cedaredge 35-21.
    • Florence upset 2A No. 10 Salida 22-13. That is actually the lone upset of an unranked team over a ranked team so far in Week 5. Ranked teams are a combined 34-1 against unranked opponents through Friday’s games this week.

    [divider]

    More coverage

  • Vista Ridge football gets thunderstruck by Discovery Canyon

    Discovery Canyon Vista Ridge football
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    COLORADO SPRINGS — Getting 11 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns is a solid day for any running back.

    For Josh Tomjack, it’s a first half.

    By the end of the night, Tomjack had run for 249 and touchdown runs of 57, 10, 38 and 52 yards as Discovery Canyon beat Vista Ridge 41-14 Friday night.

    “Any time we put the ball in TJ’s hands, who knows what’s going to happen,” Thunder coach Shawn Mitchell said. “He’s an incredible running back. He has great vision and he’s just a special kid.”

    This win didn’t just show that Discovery Canyon (5-0 overall) is going to be one of the better teams in the Colorado Springs area. By beating the No. 9-ranked team in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com football rankings so handedly, the Thunder are putting the rest of 3A on notice.

    “You could say that with the No. 1 ranking (in 3A),” quarterback Tyler McFarland said. “We’re going to have a lot of teams coming for our spot and trying to knock us off.”

    As Vista Ridge (2-3) can attest after Friday, that will be no easy feat.

    The Wolves were stung with some bad luck early as quarterback Dylan Schindele left the game with an injury after the first series.

    But it was the triple-option attack that gave the Wolves problems all night. Tomjack and McFarland both found the end zone on the ground early in the game and it allowed the defense to pin its ears back and really attack the Wolves.

    The result was players having problems maintaining assignments and getting frustrated which ended up resulting in several penalty flags.

    “We say every week that we have to play disciplined football,” Vista Ridge coach Jerimi Calip said. “Tonight we just didn’t do that. We just need to prepare a little better.”

    It seemed like the Wolves were getting break in the first quarter when a mistimed pitch from McFarland resulted in the Wolves getting the ball deep in Discovery Canyon territory.

    But it was only three plays later that the defensive line swarmed quarterback Tuler Sylvester and was able to get the ball back in the hands of the Thunder offense.

    “Our defense is playing phenomenally right now,” Tomjack said. “Even when we make little mistakes and give the ball up, they find a way to get it back for us right away.”

    It was the kind of night where everything just seemed to fall the way of the Thunder. Mitchell knew that his team had the potential to come and give the Wolves their best shot, but he didn’t the he’d seee anything close to the final result.

    “Cautious optimism when you come into the season, you hope you’re going to win every game,” Mitchell said. “Our preparation all week was about how good Vista Ridge is. They’re big up front and they have speed in all the right places. I didn’t expect a 41-14 game at all.”

    Friday marked the end of non-league play for each team. The Thunder will have their Southern League opener at Woodland Park while the Wolves will host Montrose.

    After coming away from their non-league schedule at 2-3, Calip said that he will open up competition on his team to see who wants to step in with more on the line.

    The Thunder will stick to its winning formula. With wins over top teams like Pueblo East and Vista Ridge, its a legitimate threat in 3A. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if they can be heard coming from miles away.